LionkingCMSL (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lionkingcmsl) wrote2013-07-22 02:21 pm
lionkingcmsl) wrote2013-07-22 02:21 pm
Thoughts on one of the "Ten Commandments"
We are taught, for those that believe, that Moses brought down the "Ten Commandment" from Mount Sinai.
In Exodus 20:12 the 4th or 5th Commandment, depending on who's numbering series you follow, it is stated: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."
In Deuteronomy 5:16 it is stated as such: “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."
Now, the word that is making me thoughtful is the word "honor". Honor can have several different meanings. One is to worship or revere, and another is to show a courteous regard for. You worship or revere someone when you honor them with an award. You show a courteous regard when you honor your promise.
Now you can see how the word honor can cause the Commandment to be read in different ways. Personally I don't think the Almighty was saying to worship or revere your parents and much as He was saying, "Show a courteous regard for your father and mother." In other words, He wants you to obey them.
If it is, in fact, the first meaning, then I feel that your father and mother need to earn that worship or reverence. When a parent neglects their offspring, like leaving them in a car to gamble, denying them basic medical care, then they do not deserve the worship or reverence of their children. This is also true when a parent disrespects their children. A parent must nurture and support their children. If that is not the case then the parent is not deserving of "honor" in that sense.
It all boils down to: One must earn respect, not demand it.
Addendum: Another meaning for the word honor is to cause pride in, as in, "A Klingon should die with honor."
In that case, yes, a child should honor their parents by doing right and not shaming the family name.
In Exodus 20:12 the 4th or 5th Commandment, depending on who's numbering series you follow, it is stated: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."
In Deuteronomy 5:16 it is stated as such: “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."
Now, the word that is making me thoughtful is the word "honor". Honor can have several different meanings. One is to worship or revere, and another is to show a courteous regard for. You worship or revere someone when you honor them with an award. You show a courteous regard when you honor your promise.
Now you can see how the word honor can cause the Commandment to be read in different ways. Personally I don't think the Almighty was saying to worship or revere your parents and much as He was saying, "Show a courteous regard for your father and mother." In other words, He wants you to obey them.
If it is, in fact, the first meaning, then I feel that your father and mother need to earn that worship or reverence. When a parent neglects their offspring, like leaving them in a car to gamble, denying them basic medical care, then they do not deserve the worship or reverence of their children. This is also true when a parent disrespects their children. A parent must nurture and support their children. If that is not the case then the parent is not deserving of "honor" in that sense.
It all boils down to: One must earn respect, not demand it.
Addendum: Another meaning for the word honor is to cause pride in, as in, "A Klingon should die with honor."
In that case, yes, a child should honor their parents by doing right and not shaming the family name.
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Of the ten commandments that is the only one I have struggled with, apart perhaps from what constitutes a graven image (would that include fursuits?)
My parents used the 5th commanment as an excuse to decree respect from their children, in spite of control-freak dispositions, indifference to our problems, volatile tempers and the occasional instances of physical abuse. Most peculiarly they didn't practice what they preached, as neither one had much respect for their own parents.
My maternal grandmother agreed with me that I owed no respect to my father, however she was insistent that I respect my mother. All of that changed however when my grandmother's health began to fail and my mother moved in with her as an official carer. My grandmother learned firsthand about my mother's short temper and spent the next few years emphatically apologising to me for it (though I don't think she was actually responsible for my mother's attitude; I suspect my grandfather had been the main influence there).
Another interesting point is the part of that verse saying "hat your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." My mother pointed to my great grandmother who lived to be 91, saying that this was due to her having respect for her own parents (my great, great grandparents). This would have been somewhat more convincing were it not for the fact that my great grandmother suffered from severe dimentia througout the time I knew her.
Summing up, I think that at best the Bible's use of the word "honor" in this context would refer to the fact that generally (but not always) parents have more knowledge and experience than their children, and that's what should be honoured/respected. Nevertheless I fully and wholeheartedly agree with you that one must earn respect, not demand it.
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The actual text, as translated for Exodus 20:4–6 is as follows: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
And Deuteronomy 5:8–10 is: “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
It has been summarized that the commandment is not the creation alone of "a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.", but the creation and worship of said item. So, technically, you should not be praying to a statue of Jesus, but to him directly.
According to Wikipedia: According to the psalmist and the prophet Isaiah, those who worship inanimate idols will be like them, that is, unseeing, unfeeling, unable to hear the truth that God would communicate to them. Paul the Apostle identifies the worship of created things (rather than the Creator) as the cause of the disintegration of sexual and social morality in his letter to the Romans.
This commandment has cause more theological arguments than any other, I believe. Some read it as written, and others take the view that God meant that you should not create and worship said items. I go with the latter view myself. Otherwise the world would be a very boring and bland place.
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